College Terrace
by jace24
Summary: "When we were living together at Stanford." Paily one shot.


Hey. So I've been working on this for a while now. Like a long time and I've finally got it finished. Just a one shot. But it's long. I don't know why I always write them so long but it just always ends up happening that way. I hope you all enjoy it and if not that's okay too. Either way you can let me know. I just like to write, even if it does take me a ridiculous amount of time to finish.

I don't own any of these characters or anything. Just borrowing them. MK can keep her shitty storylines for herself. :)

* * *

 **COLLEGE TERRACE**

A strained breath escaped her lips. Her calves burning as sweat formed on nearly every inch of her body, dripping from her forehead as she kept her pace strong and steady. She fought against the pain, against the aches in her chest as she struggled to find her breath. She had already gone further this morning then she had ever before but she wanted to keep going and going, almost making her usual morning run a half an hour longer. But it felt good. So good in fact. Being able to just run, run, run. It was freeing.

She was totally focused on her run and that's all she had to think about. Just the music blasting in her ears and the steady beat of her heart as she kept on her pace. The fear that used to rest on her shoulders no longer existed. The one that whispered so loudly in in ear each time she left the house, warning her to keep an eye over her shoulder. The sound of it becoming harder and harder to hear with each passing day away from her old home until one day it was just gone completely and she hoped to the heavens above it stayed wherever it went to forever.

Rounding the sidewalk with quick feet, Emily felt a small bit of relief as she spotted home in the near distance. Her legs were burning and her throat felt dry and she swore if she breathed _just_ hard enough flames would burst right from her lips. Less than a minute later she reached the large, red, ranch style gate that sat just outside the entrance of the building to the studio apartment that she lived in.

Where she and Paige lived. _Together._

Sometimes when Emily reached the gate she felt herself questioning if it were actually true or perhaps she somehow conjured the whole idea up in her head. She'd reach out and touch the gate and for a moment, just a small moment, she'd have to remind herself that it wasn't a dream. That she hadn't imagined any of the things that had occurred the last few years.

It all still felt like a whirlwind to her. Like it had only been a few days and not two years. But in truth as much as Emily was surprised about it all, she also wasn't in the slightest. She could still remember the day she had received her letter of acceptance from Pepperdine. She had been surprised, to say the least, mainly because she didn't even remember applying to the school. At first she had been confused and unsure if it was even a real letter. But then when she got to her room and opened her laptop she saw that she had in fact applied for the school, her heart jumping at the idea of getting the hell out of Rosewood. That was until she remembered that the only reason she had applied to the school in the first place was because it was at least in the same state as Paige.

After she had moved away Emily had applied to any and every school in the surrounding area and states in hopes that she would get accepted to just one of them. And in fact she had. But things hadn't exactly worked out for them after Paige had left, something that had been a bit of a gut punch to put it lightly.

It wasn't that she was mad, angry or even upset with Paige for her wanting some space after she had left. It was just…not what Emily had been expecting. Of course Emily had known that it would be difficult to maintain a long distance relationship, even more so considering her life at the time was far from normal. But it had still hurt. More than anything else it had just hurt. Like a slap to the face she never saw coming. The feeling of suddenly having ice cold water thrown at your entire body. Emily had never felt more heartbroken then she had at the idea of never seeing Paige again.

They hadn't spoke those first few weeks after they had broken up. Emily had caught herself numerous times attempting to write out a text, but each time she had talked herself out of it. Paige asked for space, not daily text messages. As much as it hurt, as it broke her heart, Emily knew she had no choice but to oblige. She had even made an attempt to move on and date, but in the back of her mind she knew it wasn't going to last. Not just because of Talia's own personal issues but because her heart just wasn't ready to move on. But she was lonely and she didn't want to just be sitting around thinking of how lonely she was. Any company is better than no company, she figured. She didn't see anything wrong with having fun while she could and Talia was at least fun to be around and that was enough.

At least at first.

But then everything changed. Suddenly everything in Emily's life was completely turned on it's head.

In the blink of an eye, Emily found herself at the lowest possible point she could have ever reached. Standing with her back against a white wall, holding up a sign with her name on it as her picture was being snapped. She would never forget the sound of the handcuffs clicking around her wrist as she was lead away from the courtroom. And just when she thought nothing could get any worse, she had proven wrong. So, so wrong.

She wasn't in jail, but she still a prisoner. Time stopped but the pain, the fear and the torture did not. For what seemed like an eternity she was trapped in a never ending torture. By the time they finally got out, the damage was already done and it could not be taken away. The fact that she was 'safe' at home meant nothing at all. She was still scared, she was alone and she didn't know what to do to take her mind off of the things that had happened to her. All she wanted to do was get away and forget.

One night while she was lying in her bed, hiding away from the world and everybody in it, her phone rang and when Emily saw Paige's name on the screen, she froze in place. It had been weeks since they had spoke, but Emily knew that Paige was aware of what had happened to her. For a moment she wasn't even sure that she was actually seeing Paige's name on the screen or just simply imagining it. But after several rings Emily realized that it wasn't just her mind wishing for the phone call, but the real thing. Paige had seen the story on the news about the girls being arrested and then again when they went missing and had called Pam in attempt to figure out what was going on exactly. Emily found out from her mother after returning home that Paige had even attempted to come back to Rosewood to help look for them, but ultimately her parents had not let her go in fear that something might happen to her if she did.

Emily understood that. She was just happy to know that Paige had tried. That she had called her mother more or less then five times a day to get updates on what was going on. Pam had called Paige that night when the girls were taken to the hospital to let her know they were safe and home. It was days later that Paige finally found the courage to actually call Emily's phone herself. When Emily had answered it and greeted Paige she was surprised, and heartbroken at the same time, to hear that her ex was crying. Emily had sat patiently on the other end, her own tears falling as she heard Paige's voice finally come through, apologizing over and over for not being there, for not being able to help look for her. Emily wasn't mad though. Truthfully, she was glad that Paige hadn't come back,.That she was safely away from all of this. Emily didn't want to ruin her life anymore then she already had. She wanted her to have a real life, a happy and normal life because she deserved it so much.

Emily swore that Paige must have apologized at least a hundred times that night when they talked. She just said it over and over again that she was sorry. Sorry that she had been stupid, that she had thought it would easier for them to be apart for the time being instead of each of them focusing and obsessing on when they would get to see each other again or how they would do so. Sorry that she had left in the first place. Sorry that she hadn't fought against her parents. Sorry that she didn't fight harder for them. Sorry that she had broken Emily's heart.

She was just…sorry. And Emily knew it. She could hear it in Paige's voice, could feel it even through the phone that Paige had been hurting just as badly as she had been in the weeks that had passed since she left and they broke up. Paige told Emily that night that she wanted to come back to Rosewood, that she wanted to see her and know that she was really okay. Emily had smiled at her words and an agreement was on the tip of her tongue, but in her heart she knew better. It wasn't safe. Especially now. It was not safe and Paige didn't need to come back there. She didn't deserve that. No, she deserved to be happy and that would never happen if she brought herself back to that place.

Paige had argued, protested with strong conviction that she was going to find a way back but in the end Emily had worn her down. They stayed on the phone for a while that night, sometimes just in comfortable silence and sometimes talking about little nothing things. The next day when Emily woke up she had a few texts from Paige. One saying again how sorry she was, how much she wished that things weren't the way that they were. Another telling her to have a good day and to call or text her if she needed anything at all. After that things slowly changed between the two of them. Unlike when Paige had first left, they spoke regularly throughout the weeks leading up to graduation. Texts, phone calls, and every now and then a Skype or FaceTime would take place. Emily wasn't quite sure what the status of their relationship was at that point. She guessed they were friends even though she knew that they both wanted to be more than that, but the distance and uncertainty of Emily's college future made it difficult. They never really spoke about their relationship when they talked, but each time their conversation came to an end they would say _'I love you'_ before hanging up.

The first time it had happened it had been by pure accident on Emily's part. A reflex reaction as she went to hang up the phone. Paige never questioned it or hesitated to say it back so Emily went with it. Over the next few weeks things changed again as Emily had begun a relationship with Sara. Emily didn't stop her communication with Paige and she didn't tell Paige about Sara either. Not that she was intentionally trying to hide it but she just wasn't really sure what to say. She liked Sara, sure, but at the same time as she had known with Talia she also knew that the relationship most likely would not go anywhere far. She still loved Paige. But loneliness had won out. Until it blew up in Emily's face that is.

When the 'A' game had officially come to an end, Emily had felt a relief that she had never thought would come. She had called Paige that same night and told her through exhausted and relieved tears that it was over. It was finally and truly over. Paige had been stunned to say the least but she had been nothing but supportive and encouraging to Emily. Happy, not only for her but for her friends as well, and relieved to know that none of them were in danger any longer. Her heart was twisted every single day that she was away from Emily knowing that she was still a target but there was nothing she could do about it. Not from three thousand miles away.

Then came the letter.

The moment that Emily got it she felt an unmistakable feeling of hope. It was a feeling that she hadn't felt in so long it was hard to even explain it. She sat in her room and read the letter over nearly ten times before it actually sunk in. She had got in. She had actually gotten in to a real college. And it was actually within driving distance to Paige. Sure, a nearly six hour drive wasn't ideal but it was most definitely far better than being a plane ride away. Quickly Emily realized she was getting a little bit ahead of herself. She didn't even know for sure if Paige would be happy that she would be that close. Did she even want her to be in the same state as she was? If Emily had to guess she would say yes, but it was still up in the air possibly.

What Emily did know though was that Paige was the only person she wanted to talk to in that moment. She wanted her to know first before her friends, before her family or anybody else. She just wanted to talk to Paige. When Emily got ready for bed that night she had been minutes away from calling her ex when her phone had started to ring. A smile had rose on Emily's face right away as Paige's face came into her view.

 _"Hey." Emily said as she took a seat on her bed, her legs folding beneath her as she leaned against the headboard._

 _"Hi. How are you?" Paige's voice came through the phone a little broken up, but she looked beautiful and Emily was just happy to see and hear from her._

 _"I'm good. Just hanging out at home tonight. What are you doing?"_

 _"Nothing much." Paige answered with a short shrug. "Just finished at the pool."_

 _"This late?" Emily frowned as she glanced over the clock next to her and saw that it was nearly nine thirty at night._

 _"It's only after six." Paige responded and smile when she saw the realization fall over Emily's face._

 _"Right. Time difference. I don't know why I always forget that." Emily shook her head with a sheepish grin, which Paige returned fully._

 _"It's okay. I forget all the time too. I was late to basically every single one of my training sessions the first week. And not just a few minutes but over an hour. It was pretty sad, actually. Especially after the fifth time."_

 _Emily chuckled as she listened to Paige's story, happy to see the other girl smiling back at her. She glanced over at her dresser for a moment where her letter was sitting, her heart beginning to race a little bit as she stared at it._

 _She didn't hear Paige calling out to her until she spoke up a little bit louder, causing Emily to look back at the screen with a questioning look on her face._

 _"Everything okay?" Paige asked, a small frown on her face_

 _"Ye-yeah. Sorry, I was just looking at something." Emily waved off Paige's concern with a smile and Paige didn't push any further. "Actually um…I sort of have some news."_

 _"Oh, yeah? What kind of news?"_

 _"Good. I-I think so anyways." Emily said with a nervous expression that Paige caught onto but didn't get a chance to question before Emily spoke again._

 _"I got an acceptance letter today."_

 _"Are you serious? Em! That's amazing! Why would that not be good news?!" Paige said all at once, her face bursting into an immediate smile that Emily always found so infectious._

 _"What school?"_

 _Emily hesitated for a moment, trying to hide her fears about what Paige's reaction might be when she revealed that the school was in close vicinity to her._

 _"Um, well it's funny cause I sort of forgot that I had even applied there but I got into Pepperdine."_

 _Paige remained quiet for a moment. Her eyes looking away from the screen as she took in the news, probably putting it all together in her mind, Emily assumed._

 _"So…Malibu?" Paige asked, her voice barely heard through the phone as she did. Emily saw her swallow hard, her eyes still looking away from the camera as she sat back in what appeared to be her desk chair, her hand running through her hair as she did._

 _"Yeah." Emily responded simply. "Malibu. It's not a full ride but it's a good offer."_

 _Paige nodded silently. Emily was sure that her mind was going in several different directions, the same as hers had been a few hours ago when she had first opened the letter._

 _"Are you uh…are you going to accept…or…?" Paige asked hesitantly, her eyes finally meeting Emily's again through the lens._

 _"I don't know. I-I mean I haven't heard from any other schools that are of any interest to me so far so…I think I might. I need to talk to my parents about it."_

 _"Of course."_

 _"….How would you feel about it? You know if I do accept?"_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _Emily sighed, her eyes falling to the mattress below her as she pulled at the fuzz on one of her pillows._

 _"I'd be a lot closer to you."_

 _"You would." Paige agreed, but her lack of words was slowly starting to frustrate Emily. They hadn't talked much about the status of their relationship and now that there was a chance that perhaps, just maybe, somehow they could make things work and Emily wanted to know if that was even something that Paige even wanted anymore._

 _"…is that something that you still want?" Emily pressed a little more and she could tell by the look on Paige's face that she understood what Emily was saying._

 _"Em-"_

 _"Yes or no, Paige? I just need to know."_

 _"Of course I want you close, Em. You already know that I do."_

 _"But?" Emily sighed, feeling the word lingering on the tip on Paige's tongue_

 _"There isn't a 'but' Emily. It's just that…"_

 _"What? It's just what Paige?"_

 _Paige knew that Emily had every reason to be upset with her short answers, and by the look on her face it was clear that she was._

 _But Emily wasn't really upset so much as she was just…tired. Tired of not knowing where she and Paige stood. Tired of missing Paige, tired of having everything in her life be so far out of her control. Emily was just tired._

 _"It's not fair." Paige answered, which only caused to confuse Emily more. "I'm the one that did this, Em. I messed everything up between us and I wish so much that I could take it back but I can't. And as much as I want you here, or at least somewhere closer to me, it just doesn't seem fair for me to ask or want that when I'm the one that screwed it all up."_

 _"Paige." Emily didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Paige's answer. Because of course Paige would think that. It was utterly far too much like Paige to think that all of this was her fault, which in a way it was partially true considering it was Paige's idea to break up, but on the other hand it was entirely not Paige's fault at all. The circumstances surrounding Emily's life played a huge role in the way her life was going now. That was the reason that she couldn't swim and therefore couldn't go to Stanford with Paige and also the reason Paige's parents had for her moving away sooner._

 _Those two things alone had been the start to their relationship troubles._

 _"Paige." Emily called out to the brunette once again, waiting patiently for Paige to finally look back at the camera. "It's not all your fault. It's not yours or mine for that matter. It's just how it is right now. But it doesn't have to stay like this. You might not think it's fair to say yes but you're wrong. You're just wrong and I-I just need to know. I need to know whether or not this is still something you want or if it's over because if it is I need to try and figure out how to get over you. Okay? I can't keep doing this and pretending that it's okay because it's not. I don't want to tip toe around it anymore. I just…I just need to know."_

 _Emily hadn't even realized that she had started to cry until she felt the warmth from her tears hitting her legs. She didn't realize that she had been holding all of that in for some time now and it felt good to say, to get it out and lay it all out on the table._

 _"I'm sorry, Em. I didn't…I wish none of this had ever happened."_

 _"So do I. But it has and now this is where we are." Emily sniffed, wiping the edge of her eyes as she swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat._

 _"But it doesn't have to stay this way. I mean, I don't know exactly how it will go or if it will even work but I just…I don't want to give up. I'm not ready to give you up."_

 _"I'm not either, Em." Paige said after a moment, her own voice cracking as she spoke and Emily felt like a weight was suddenly lifted from her shoulders. "You know that I love you and I want you here. I always have and that hasn't changed for a second. I just-I didn't know what to do. I didn't want you to worry about getting out here and constantly worrying about me. I just thought it would be easier."_

 _"I know that. But you were wrong."_

 _"And I know that." Paige replied, each of them laughing lightly at her words._

 _"I love you, Paige. I really do."_

 _"I know that too."_

 _"So…would you be okay with me coming there?"_

 _"Of course I would. More than okay." Paige answered readily, not even hesitating in the slightest bit this time she was asked, which caused Emily to smile brightly for the first time in what felt like forever._

 _"Okay."_

They sat quietly for a moment, just looking at one another with matching grins on their faces, the looming dark cloud that had been hovering above them for weeks suddenly starting to weaken little by little.

After that conversation that night with Paige, everything between them shifted and became entirely new. They weren't just 'friends' anymore. They weren't exactly girlfriends either, but Emily considered herself to be taken and as far as she knew Paige considered herself the same. She had been telling the truth when she told Paige she didn't know how it would all go when she got to Malibu. She didn't know if it would work, how it would work or anything like that but she knew that she had to try. They had to try. There was just too much there, too much history and fight between them to just roll over and give in. She wasn't ready to do that. Not yet.

So for the next several days Emily talked to her parents about her plan. How she had gotten a scholarship to the school and she wanted to go. She didn't mention Paige outright but she knew that her parents probably already knew that she was in fact part of the reason as to why Emily wanted to go there. In the end, Wayne and Pam had agreed that Pepperdine was a fine school for their daughter to go to and that was that. Within the next few months Emily was packed up and driving her way across the world to her new home without so much as a glance back in the direction of Rosewood.

When Emily finally reached California she could hardly believe that she was actually there. Driving next to the ocean had been a complete dream come true and she couldn't wait for the day when she got to truly go out and explore her new surroundings, hopefully with Paige. After finally being able to say they were living in the same state again, Emily could hardly wait to actually be in the same room with her (girlfriend?) again. Though it didn't happen as quickly as she had hoped for. Even though school hadn't started yet, Paige was still on a strict training schedule thanks to her father and her free time was limited. In the end it took nearly a full month after arriving in Malibu before Emily actually got to see Paige in the flesh again after having spent nearly four months away from her already. She was staying for the weekend before school started and both teens were itching to finally be in front of each other again before their schedules got even more hectic.

On the whole drive up to Stanford, Emily could hardly keep still. Her hands were constantly tapping against the steering wheel or she was playing with her hair or fiddling with the radio. Anything, just anything at all to keep her mind preoccupied during the six hour drive. They had decided to meet at a little coffee shop that was near Paige's dorm and the moment that Emily finally arrived she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. She had technically seen Paige since she had moved away, but seeing her through a phone and computer screen was hardly the same as standing face to face with one another. Emily spent nearly ten extra minutes checking her reflection in the rearview mirror before she was able to convince herself to step out of the car and get on with it already before Paige thought she bailed.

As Emily walked into the coffee shop she could feel her heart beating through her ears, the thump thump thump loud and clear. It took maybe a half a second before she spotted Paige sitting quietly in a booth near the back of the shop. A coffee in her hands as she stared out the window next to her. She looked beautiful. More so than Emily remembered. Her hair was down and curly as usual, pushed back behind her ears as she moved and stared down at her cup. She looked causal and sexy all at the same time in her black jeans, her favorite white Rolling Stones t-shirt that Emily knew had the sleeves cut off, and her black leather jacket. So beautiful.

Emily was startled for a moment as a few students came in the door behind her, shaking her out of her trance and the slight bit of noise caused Paige to look in her direction. Their eyes met, Paige looking just as awestruck as Emily felt in that same moment. Emily didn't even remember actually walking over to Paige but the next thing she knew she was hugging the girl. A smile on her lips as she held tightly to Paige's neck and inhaled her familiar and seriously missed scent of coconut and vanilla. She had missed Paige, that fact proving to be far more true than Emily had even realized until she was standing in front of her and holding the girl in her arms.

They stood there for a while. Who knows how long exactly but they both knew it was for longer than necessary, long enough to draw some attention to them, but neither of them cared.

 _"You're here." Paige had laughed, the sound sending a shiver down Emily's spine as she imagined the smile on Paige's face at the same time._

 _"I am."_

Paige's only response was to hold on to Emily that much tighter, afraid that if she let her go that she would vanish right in front of her. But they did eventually let go of each other. They sat together, they drink many cups of coffee and ate several items over a few hours time. Emily was slightly amazed at how easy it was for them to fall back into their routine once they were face to face once again. Somehow it was if the two hadn't been away from each other for more than a few days. When they did finally leave the cafe, Paige showed Emily around town a little bit. She pointed out little shops and places to eat that she had frequented in her time there. They walked around town going nowhere in particular until somehow the day turned into the evening and they got dinner at a little pizza place that Paige suggested. After dinner, just as the sun was beginning to fall over the horizon, they went to the beach.

Emily loved the beach, which was something that of course Paige knew which is why she had saved it for last one purpose. Emily could still remember the first time she ever stepped into the sand when she was ten years old and her family had taken a trip to Hawaii for the summer. Emily fell in love with the ocean right away and it was no different for her now eight years later. The smell, the sound and breeze all combined together gave her goosebumps as soon as she stepped into the sand. They walked the length of the beach twice before sitting in middle of the sand, a comfortable silence consuming them as they simply enjoyed being in one anothers company again.

Even now, if she thought about it hard enough, Emily could still picture that moment in her mind so clearly. Her toes stuffed into the sand, her shoes off to the side next to Paige's, her fingers playing with the zipper on Paige's jacket that she had taken off and given to Emily earlier in the evening after dinner. Emily remembered the wind blowing and watching as Paige's hair floated up and around her face, shining perfectly in the sunset glow, as her eyes focused on the water in front of them. Paige sat with her knees pulled up to chest, her long arms folded over the tops of them. Emily recalled smiling to herself, the warmest of feelings rising up through her body as she stared at the beautiful girl beside her and wondered how she had got so lucky. How was it that she had found such an amazing person in such a terrible place?

Most likely feeling Emily staring at her, Paige had turned her head and looked at Emily, a sheepish smile forming on her face as she realized that in fact she was staring.

 _"What?" Paige had asked, her head dipping slightly in the way that Emily had missed so much._

Emily didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to answer the question because she couldn't think clear enough to find one that would make any sense. So instead she said nothing. Instead she did what she had wanted to do from the moment she had seen Paige that morning.

Her hand seemed to move on it's own accord, resting softly against Paige's cheek as her heart began to speed up little by little. For a moment Emily waited, giving Paige a moment to tell her to stop if she didn't want her to do what she was about to do. But nothing of the sort ever came. Paige's eyes fell to Emily's lips, her tongue slipping from her mouth to wet her own lips, and Emily didn't wait a moment longer.

Maybe it was too soon. Maybe they should have talked some more or spent more time together first, but at the same time it seemed pointless to try and hold off the inevitable, especially when their time together was already going to be limited even though their living distance was much shorter now. Their lips touched and Emily felt whole for the first time in months. Like nothing could touch her now, like nothing bad had ever happened to her or to them. She felt Paige's arm go around her waist and pull her closer, her free hand burying itself in Emily's hair as she deepened the kiss. Emily remembered smiling against Paige's lips, remembered not knowing what to do with her hands because she wanted them to be everywhere all over Paige's body all at the same time.

She remembered her back sinking into the sand as she tugged Paige's body further into her own, the sun setting over them and the night growing colder as they laid in the same spot for who knows how long just kissing and kissing and not caring about anything else at all. She remembered Paige telling her more than once that she loved her. That she was so happy that she was there.

Emily then remembered Paige shivering above her slightly from the cold and how they reluctantly got up from the sand, put their shoes on and walked hand in hand back to Emily's car that they had left at the coffee shop earlier that day. Emily drove the few miles to the Stanford dorm where she spent the night with Paige, which was made easier by the fact that her roommate wasn't moving in for another week.

The next morning when Emily had woken up, dressed in only her underwear and one of Paige's t-shirts (even though she had packed her own pajamas) she felt an undeniable and overwhelming sense of bliss. The comfort of having Paige's arms wrapped around her body and her heart steadily beating against her back was a sensation that Emily hadn't known how much she had missed until she woke up that morning.

Emily had fallen asleep again before waking hours later again just moments after Paige did. They were in no rush to get up though. The two had stayed in bed for the majority of the morning in Paige's dorm room, which was much smaller than Emily had been expecting, just talking, sometimes kissing and other times just lying together in the peaceful atmosphere that they were surrounded by due to the lack of students on campus at that point in time.

Eventually they dragged themselves from the comfort of Paige's bed, only because Emily's stomach had growled incredibly loud, and got dressed for the day. They walked the short distance from the campus to a little diner that Paige had discovered a few weeks prior. She claimed that they had the best french toast that she had ever tasted and Emily was sold after that. They each ordered a plate of french toast with a side of eggs (Emily also had hash browns and a bowl of fruit) and a glass of milk.

After breakfast the two had mirrored their actives from the day before and had wandered around the city exploring. They weren't sure where they were going to go and didn't really care either. They simply walked out of the diner and just began walking down the sidewalk to see what they could find. They ended up stumbling upon the Winchester Mystery House and had gone inside for a tour that lasted a little over an hour and left them perfectly creeped out. When they finished there they had wandered back out on to the streets on San Jose hand in hand as they continued their exploration. The whole day felt so natural, so much like it had before all the bad things in their lives had torn them away from each other. Walking hand in hand, stealing kisses here and there, laughing and joking with one another. It was utterly perfect.

That night they had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where Emily had eaten her very first macaroni and cheese burger after Paige had jokingly suggested she try it. Emily was feeling bold and went with it. Never in her life did she think hamburger and macaroni would be such a delicious combination but she was proven wrong. Paige had enjoyed her chicken bellagio as well before the two shared a serving of fresh strawberry shortcake.

When they got back to the dorm that night something had shifted between them. There a thickness in the air that hadn't been there the past twenty hours. Emily didn't know what it was at first but then as she looked at her overnight bag that was thrown on the floor, it had hit her.

Tomorrow she would have to leave, which was bad enough, but the worst part was that she didn't know when she was going to actually be able to see Paige in person again. She knew that Paige's schedule was going to be especially crazy, not just with classes but practice and meets as well. And it wasn't like her own schedule was going to be a walk in the park either.

Emily hadn't even realized that she had begun to tear up until she felt Paige's hand on her cheek, wiping away a fallen tear from her face.

 _"Hey." Paige whispered, her voice soft and filled with concern as she stared down at Emily. "It's going to be okay. We're going to see each other again. This is only the start."_

 _Paige had easily picked up on what was going through Emily's head, mainly because she too was beginning to feel a sense of dread as she realized that Emily would be going back to Malibu the next morning._

 _"You sound so sure." Emily said with the smallest of smiles as she sunk happily into Paige's embrace._

 _"I am. I don't know how it's going to work just yet, but I do know that I just got you back and I'm not just going to let you go again. Not for good."_

 _"I don't want that either."_

 _"We'll figure it out." Paige reassured her as she placed a lingering kiss to Emily's forehead, pulling back just enough from their embrace to look Emily in the eye. "Besides, it's not like you're going to be on the other side of the world anymore. You're just a drive away. You can come and visit me whenever you want and I'll come to you, too."_

 _"And we still have modern technology on our side as well." Paige commented with a quick point of her finger at Emily, causing a smile to cross over the girls lips._

 _"I know I'm overreacting a little but I just…" Emily stopped, shrugging her shoulders quickly as she failed to find the words._

 _"You're scared." Paige finished for her, knowing exactly what Emily was going to say and it hurt her heart to know that part of that was because of the poor decisions she had made when she first moved away. She had cut Emily off and put an even bigger amount of distance between them in fear of what the distance would do to them in the long run, of how it would effect each of them as time went on. But now she knew she had been wrong. It wasn't fair of her to make that choice for both of them._

 _"We're still technically going to be in the same spot we were. Maybe we're not as far now but we're still going to be apart 99% of the time."_

 _"That's true." Paige wasn't going to lie and say it wasn't because they both knew that it was true. They were going to be apart for the majority of the time and it was going to hurt, badly, but the fact that they weren't so far anymore did provide Paige with some comfort._

 _"We will be apart for a long time, but it won't be forever. We'll have breaks before we know it and then we'll have the summers also. We're both going to be busy which means the time will go by faster. It's going to suck, badly, to be away from you and I can't promise that it's all going to work out how we want it to…"_

 _Paige sighed, wishing her words sounded more hopeful than that._

 _"But I can promise you one thing."_

 _Emily looked at Paige expectantly, waiting for her to finish her thought. "I promise you that everyday, somehow or another, we're going to talk. Texts, phone call, Skype or email. Maybe even all of the above in the same day. It doesn't matter. But everyday we will talk and check in with each other. And any day or weekend that I can I'll come and see you. I'm not going to disappear again. I promise you that, Em."_

 _Paige watched as Emily's eyes fell, which proved to Paige that her suspicion had been right when she guessed that the main reason Emily was so worried was because of her actions beforehand. She couldn't blame Emily for it, but it made her feel awful all the same. She didn't want Emily to feel as if she couldn't trust her. The thought alone caused a knot to form in Paige's stomach. She had never intended to hurt Emily in any sort of way but she knew that she had, and for that Paige was still trying to forgive herself._

 _"You don't have to worry about that at all."_

 _At Paige's words, Emily felt a sudden weight lifting from her shoulders that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying. Sure, she knew how she felt about how things had gone after Paige moved, but she didn't realize how much she needed that reassurance that she was still what Paige wanted until now. That she was still just as invested as Emily herself was._

 _"I love you. I love you so much."_

 _Emily smiled, wide and bright, as she heard those words and she knew it was true. She had never doubted that Paige loved her truly and whole heartedly but hearing the words out loud still made her heart leap each and every time Paige said them._

 _"I know. I love you, too."_

Paige's arms tightened around her for a moment and Emily didn't know who moved first, not that it mattered, but all the sudden they were kissing. Emily had her fair share of kisses over the last several years but she had never been kissed by anyone the way that Paige kissed her. Every kiss, each and every single time their lips touched whether it be a short peck or slow, deep and passionate like now, Emily could feel every bit of love pouring from Paige's body into her own. Paige's kisses were honest, sweet and never failed to take Emily's breath away. It felt so right, so perfect each and every time it almost frightened her.

At some point, Emily didn't know when or how it happened, they had moved from the middle of the room and ended up on the bed. Their clothes ended up in a pile on the floor with any and all doubts that maybe, perhaps, they could make this whole thing work out.

The memory of that night was still so fresh in Emily's mind. Like a movie that you just never seem to forget about no matter how long it's been since you last saw it. You think of it and all the sudden it's playing out from start to finish in your mind. Emily remembered that night being the night that everything seemed to change, for the first time in forever, for the better. Although she and Paige were still saddened that Emily had to leave, the worries and what ifs were suddenly so much smaller. That night had made them all shrink to the size of nothing more than a tiny single grain of sand. Practically invisible.

They spent the next year doing just as Paige promised. They talked each and every day(or at the very least every other day), through any and every single way possible and they made trips to see one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. Emily would drive up to Stanford and go to Paige's meets when she could or Paige would make the trip to Emily and they would spend their days riding bikes or rollerblading as they explored the city. They had picnics on the beach and on secret pathways they had found while going for a morning hike or jog together. They saw movies, went to shows and exhibits around the cities. They would spend the nights in each others dorms when they could or sometimes they would get a hotel room for a night so they could avoid the difficult task of having to be quiet in their rooms or if their roommates brought their own dates or significant others over for the night, which happened more than it didn't. It was in one of those moments, just two months before summer was to begin, where Paige and Emily had realized just how inconvenient living in the dorms could actually be.

Emily was staying with Paige for the weekend and the two had attended a party together at one of the frat houses the night she had arrived, where they had each ended up getting a little more than tipsy, and on the walk to the dorms Emily had already known what was going to happen once they got back to Paige's room. One thing Emily had discovered about her girlfriend over the year (even though Paige often denied it) was that anytime she got a good amount of alcohol in her, not to where she was drunk but just a little over buzzed, she got far more handsy (and foul mouthed) than usual. She was bolder, especially in the bedroom, and Emily secretly loved the whole thing even though she would tease her girlfriend about it afterwards. A dominant Paige had always been such turn on for Emily, and Paige only seemed to become more so that way when she had a few drinks.

That night had been no different. They had barely managed to walk inside Paige's room before she was on Emily, making her gasp and moan against the hardwood surface of the door. Paige had kissed her hard and tore the breath right from Emily's lungs, her hands roamed everywhere over Emily's body, not able to decide where she wanted them first as she cupped her face, palmed her breasts and gripped her hips in what felt like one fast motion. Paige had removed her own leather jacket and began trying to unbutton Emily's shirt but in her slightly buzzed state she couldn't work the buttons and cursed before she gave up and instead grasped the middle of the shirt and tore it open. Emily had fought not to laugh at her girlfriend's impatience, but all she could do was moan as she felt Paige's hands a covering her now partially bare breasts. Emily didn't even have time to think as she felt Paige's lips on her neck and moving down towards her breasts, pinching her nipples through the thin fabric of her yellow bra.

She hadn't even noticed that Paige had managed to unbutton her jeans before she felt her hand pushing aside the fabric of her underwear, thrusting two fingers into her without preamble. The sudden action had caused Emily's breath to catch in her throat, her fingers gripping at Paige's shoulder and hair as Paige's thrusts increased rapidly.

 _"Fuck. Paige."_

 _Paige kissed her hard. Rough. And it only served to turn Emily on more. Their sex life had always been good, always passionate and fulfilling in every single way but when they had sex like this, when Paige just fucked her without holding back at all, Emily found it to be a completely different and satisfying experience._

 _"God, yes. Yes, just like that."_

 _"You feel so fucking good." Paige panted into her ear, biting down on the lobe, and Emily groaned again as she pulled Paige's lips back to her own, thrusting her tongue into the girls mouth and loving the sound that Paige made when she did. Paige quickly gripped the back of Emily's thigh and pulled her leg up until it was wrapped around her waist, quickening her pace as she watched her girlfriend's face closely and felt her start to completely come undone. It didn't take long and Emily's back was arching, her hips moving rapidly to meet Paige's thrusts and her mouth fell open as she groaned loudly into Paige's ear as she came._

 _Emily had felt Paige's lips curl into a smile against her neck as she kissed the sweated skin, letting her ride out the final moments of her orgasm slowly before she removed her hand from Emily's wetness.._

 _Paige opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything Emily had covered her mouth with her own, pushing her body away from the door with her hand, causing them both to stumble towards Paige's bed. Paige smiled again as Emily guided her into a seated position on the bed, wasting no time before she straddled her lap and started pulling at her clothes._

 _"I want you so bad right now." Emily panted against Paige's lips, all while grounding her hips down into Paige's, making them both groan at the pressure._

 _Paige wasted no time as she pushed Emily's shirt from her shoulders and tugged at the straps of her bra, all while Emily had yanked Paige's t-shirt over her head and was working on getting her belt off, her actions halting momentarily when Paige's mouth fell onto her now completely bare chest, a guttural moan escaping her lips as Paige's warm mouth surrounded her left nipple._

 _It was then at that moment, with Emily's nipple in Paige's mouth and both girls more than half naked and fully aroused, that each of them discovered just how much they hated dorm rooms. Because in that same moment the door to the room flung open suddenly, catching both girls completely off guard, and Paige's roommate Cassidy stumbled in and quickly covered her eyes as she realized what she had just walked into._

 _"Jesus! What are you doing?!" Paige hollered as she swiftly moved Emily out of Cassidy's view and began pulling her own shirt back on as quickly as she could._

 _"Um…I live here." Cassidy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you covered up?"_

 _Paige looked to Emily and made sure she was dressed before she answered, "I thought you were staying with Leo tonight."_

 _"Yeah, well that's not happening now." Cassidy grumbled as she dropped her hand from her eyes and instead used it to cover her stomach. "He decided to ditch me for his asshole friends so instead of going with him I went over to Kappa Sigma and made some extremely poor choices that ended with me throwing up in somebody's laundry basket."_

 _"You've got to be kidding me."_

 _"Wish I was. So sorry but you're going to have to take your sex fest somewhere else tonight."_

 _Paige looked at her roommate with a exasperated expression as she watched her lie down in her bed and turn on the TV that was hanging on the wall. Looking over at Emily, Paige saw the same frustrated look on her girlfriends face as she herself was carrying. It didn't matter anyways, the moment had passed now and Paige felt far more sober than she had two minutes ago. The couple had no choice but to just lie back and watch the episode of 'Criminal Minds' that Cassidy had put on._

 _"Don't look at me like that, Paige. There was no bunny on the door."_

 _"Oh my god." Paige grumbled, letting her body fall back onto her mattress in exasperation._

 _"We've had that system set up from the start, Paige. No bunny, no booty."_

 _"Well excuse me for forgetting the bunny this one time! I was sort of distracted." Paige argued even though she knew it wasn't going to do her any good at this point._

At the beginning of the school year it became apparent that at times Paige would want the room to herself with Emily, as would Cassidy and her boyfriend. So one day Cassidy came up with the rabbit idea. Anytime either one of the girls wanted the room to themselves they would hang up doorknob sign that Cassidy had bought that had a large picture of a cartoon bunny smiling on it.

 _'Fucking like Bunnies'_ had been the idea in Cassidy's mind as she purchased the sign and explained the deal to Paige when she returned to their dorm that afternoon. Since then the two had, until this one time, had always put the sign out when they wanted the room to themselves.

 _"Can't help you." Cassidy shrugged as she reached down to her mini fridge and grabbed out her ice cream pint along with a spoon._

 _"I hate you."_

 _"I bet you do." Cassidy smiled to herself as she raised the volume on her television show._

After that night, Paige had begun considering not returning to the dorms for sophomore year, and instead thought that maybe it would be better if she found a little apartment near campus that she and Emily could share together when her girlfriend was in town. Maybe even make it their own together permanently one day. Of course it wasn't just the lack of privacy that had her thinking of changing her living arrangements, but she'd be lying if it wasn't a large reason. Unbeknownst to Paige, Emily was having some second thoughts regarding her sophomore year as well, but her plans of change were much larger than her girlfriends.

Throughout her first year at Pepperdine Emily had been content with where she was, but she was by no means in love with the place. It was a fine school and the people she had met and become close with were nice and it was close enough to Paige, or so at least Emily thought, but after spending the year going back and forth and continuously counting the days down until they could see each other again, Emily had begun to have second thoughts.

After all, it wasn't as if she was tied down to Pepperdine. It wasn't as if she had received some amazing out of this world scholarship like Paige had with Stanford. She had no full ride. She wasn't getting anything extra from the school that she couldn't get from somewhere else. It was just before her first year of classes ended that Emily began looking into transferring to a school that was far closer to her girlfriend. She knew that it was probably crazy, that perhaps she was jumping the gun and thinking only with her emotions rather than rationally, but she didn't care. She wasn't even certain yet of what she wanted her future to be. What she wanted to become in the next five to ten years…she had no clue. Although she did know she wanted to have a career somewhere in the sports and medicine field, she just wasn't so certain as to what part exactly. She thought she did, years ago when swimming had been her entire life, but now that it was gone and she didn't have anything to back those dreams up with, Emily found herself caught like a deer in headlights.

With her future seeming to be so uncertain, Emily felt that she needed to at least hold on to the one thing she was certain about. And that was Paige. So Emily began searching and searching around to local colleges that were closer in proximity to her girlfriend and started figuring out how to go about transferring out of Pepperdine the following year. She wasn't sure how her parents or Paige would react, but she knew that she was making the right choice no matter what they would say. She wasn't happy at Pepperdine, at least not entirely, and she knew that the main reason for that was because her desire to go there in the first place had only been because it was closer to Paige then any of the schools that given her offers.

A week after freshman year was over, Emily had driven up to Stanford to stay with Paige and her family for a week, which Emily was grateful for, and had finally decided to tell Paige what was on her mind. They were in Paige's room at the time, spread out comfortably on her bed and enjoying the silence that the empty house provided to them thanks to her parents going out for the night.

 _"I'm leaving Pepperdine."_

 _Emily closed her eyes and waited for Paige's response, which took a moment longer than she had expected._

 _"You're what?!" Paige's voice went up about three octaves as she spoke, the surprise evident on her face as well when Emily looked up at her._

 _"You can't drop out of school, Em!"_

 _"Just hear me out." Emily held her hand up quickly, not wanting Paige to overreact, which by the look on her face she was about to._

 _"I'm not dropping out of school completely. I'm just transferring. At least I'm seriously considering it."_

 _"Ooookay." Paige drew the word out as she removed her arm from around Emily's shoulder and pushed her palms against the mattress, sitting up completely into a sitting position and watched Emily do the same._

 _"And when did you decide to do this?" Paige asked, trying to keep her tone even as she tried to process what Emily was telling her._

 _"I-I don't know. I've just been thinking about it a lot lately. Honestly, I think I always knew I was going to end up transferring at some point."_

 _"Really?"_

 _Emily could hear the small level of hurt in Paige's voice, feeling slightly guilty for never confiding in her girlfriend about the decision before now but it wasn't until recently that she had seriously began considering the option. It was always in the back of her mind, sure, but the reality of it happening had only just settled in._

 _"Yeah…I mean I really like Pepperdine and all but it's just…I don't know. It's not where I want to be. It's not where I envisioned going to school ever but it's the one place I knew I could go and…"_

 _"And what?" Paige probed, clearly oblivious to what Emily was getting at._

 _"And I could be close to you." Emily answered shyly while she dropped her gaze from Paige's._

 _"But it's not as close as I'd like it to be. I mean it's better than it was, but it's just not any easier at the same time either."_

 _"I know." Paige agreed, her voice falling slightly as she rested her arms across her legs._

 _"So I've just been thinking that maybe I could transfer to a school up here. You know it's not like I have my major figured out yet or anything anyways. I could just go to a community college for a few years until I figure the rest out."_

 _"Sounds like you've made your mind up." Paige said with a small smile, which Emily was happy to see. She didn't like springing things on her girlfriend but she knew that this was the right decision for her, and hopefully for them as a couple also._

 _"I sort of have. I found a really nice school not far from Stanford and I sent them my transcripts and I'm just waiting to hear back. My parents aren't entirely thrilled about it but they understand and they said they would trust me as long as I'm sure about it. And I am. I mean, I'll have to find a place to live but other than that it won't really be that much of a change. I still plan to go to school and after I figure out what path I want to take I can always try for a student loan to go to another school."_

 _"Hmm." Paige nodded her head, a smile slowly starting to cross over her lips that had Emily looking at her with a curious grin of her own._

 _"What's that smile about?"_

 _"Well…it's a funny thing, actually."_

 _"What is?"_

 _"Well you're not the only one who's been thinking about making some changes." Paige answered, clearing her throat slightly before she continued, "I was thinking about getting an apartment instead of returning to the dorms next year."_

 _"An apartment?" Emily questioned, surprised at the reveal considering Paige hadn't mentioned the idea before to her. Although it wasn't completely shocking to her because she knew that Paige was getting slightly frustrated with the dorms, but Emily just assumed Paige would just stay with her parents. She never considered the idea that Paige would want her own place._

 _"Yeah. My scholarship will pay for the rent, at least part of it but as far as utilities and any extras go, that's on me."_

 _"I see." Emily nodded her head, not wanting to get to far ahead of herself but deep down she was wondering if maybe Paige was thinking what she was thinking, and thankfully Paige didn't make her wait long to find out._

 _"I was going to start looking for a place in the next few weeks but now that you're possibly going to be moving up here…maybe we can look for a place together?" The hesitancy was clear in Paige's voice when she asked, clearly nervous about the question. It was a big step after all._

 _"Together, huh?" Emily could hardly contain herself at the thought. Just the idea of being able to live in the same city as her girlfriend had been more than enough for Emily. She had never even considered the idea of them living together, at least not this soon, but it wasn't exactly the craziest idea in the world. They had planned from the very beginning to live together. It just seemed like those things were old dreams that they would never get back, but yet somehow here it was, right in front of her and Emily couldn't say yes fast enough._

 _"If you want to." Paige shrugged nervously, a shy smile on her face as she waited for Emily to give her an answer. Maybe it was to soon, too bold of question right now, but it truly didn't feel like any of that. It felt right to ask, even if she was still nervous. It felt right for them to be here, to be moving forward more and more together each and every day. Why delay the inevitable?_

 _"Of course I want to." Emily said, her grin threatening to split her cheeks in half as she reached her hands out, grabbing Paige's cheeks, and kissed her._

 _"Okay. Together it is then." Paige grinned wider then Emily had ever seen before, the pure joy in her eyes making Emily's heart flip._

Seven weeks and three days into the summer, after endless google searches and going through the ad listings in the local newspaper, Paige had found the perfect place. Actually she hadn't found it as much as stumbled upon it. She and Emily both had been searching day in and day out for any sort of place of their own that wasn't overpriced, in a bad area or just plain wrong for them. Emily had ended up returning to Rosewood those weeks to stay with her mom while she and Paige tried to figure out where they would be living. Paige had simply been riding her bike one day when she passed a **For Rent** sign at the end of street corner. _College Terrace_. Intrigued, she pedaled down the street until she stumbled upon an apartment complex. There was a large red ranch style gate on the outside. The building was a light creme color, with black shutters on the windows and from what Paige could see from her spot it looked like there about a dozen large potted plants with beautiful pink, purple and yellow flowers blooming from each of them.

Something about the place gave Paige a tingly feeling all over and even though she had no clue what the inside looked like, or how much it was to live there, or any details at all for that matter, Paige felt like she had finally found her and Emily's future home. When she got home she immediately went to her bedroom and looked up the apartment complex. The pictures alone made the place seem beautiful, but Paige had learned by now that pictures can be deceiving, but still there was something about the place that gave her a good feeling. She couldn't wait to tell Emily about it.

When Emily came to visit a few weeks later after they set up a date to look at the apartment, Paige was practically bouncing on her feet as she walked with Emily to the large red ranch style gate that sat just outside the place. It wasn't huge by any means but it was plenty of space for her and Emily to share. Just larger than a shoebox really. It was as simple as you could get but Paige had quickly fallen in love and Emily was right behind her. Hardwood floors ran throughout it, the color matching the kitchen cabinets that sat below a black granite top. There was a white staircase, that matched the white walls, with grey carpet covered steps that led to a 'cozy' (aka small) loft area with black rectangle tiles covering the floor where the bedroom would be, with just enough floor space for one of the two dressers the girls had. The bathroom was a small but would work just fine in the end of it all.

Paige and Emily were sold from the start. They moved in the following month after Emily returned to California. They furnished the place with the least expensive items they could find around the thrift shops in town and a few items from their bedrooms at home. Two plush white chairs sitting just at the edge of the stairs facing the TV that hung on the wall, an off green three seater couch with an ottoman against the wall that stood just before the kitchen, and a light colored wooden table that sat six people which both girls parents had chipped in on to get for them. Other than that they filled the apartment with things that had already owned. Pictures, dishes, lights, side tables, a dresser and bookshelves. Paige took her bed from her parents house and moved it into the apartment since it was large enough for the two of them and it wasn't needed at her folks house anymore. The girls didn't need much else than that.

Their first night together had been nothing short of simple and sweet. They had celebrated the evening by ordering pizza and ice cream from a local shop a few blocks away from their new home. Paige had spent the entire afternoon trying to set up their TV and cable box, which took much longer to accomplish then the Stanford swimmer was willing to admit. Emily had put away as much of the knick knacks and essentials as possible and afterwards the two had sprawled out on a blanket in the middle of the living room floor with their pizza boxes, ice cream pints, popcorn bowls and drink bottles all littered around them. After the movie they had been watching became nothing more than background noise to the sounds of their clothes hitting the floor and their labored breaths, Emily had felt extremely wired. She just kept walking around the apartment, wrapped in just a plain white sheet, just staring at every inch of her new home. She walked up and down the stairs, back and forth from the living room to the kitchen and bathroom over and over again. She just couldn't sit still. It was almost as if she was afraid that if she did sit still, if she went to back to bed where Paige was still soundly sleeping, then when she woke up she would be somewhere else. Somewhere further away from Paige than she had ever been before. Somewhere alone, lost and miserable from waking up from this beautiful little dream she was in right now.

As much as she was beyond the memories and nightmares that Rosewood had instilled in her, the nightmares were still so vivid every now and then. So real and so easily manipulating to Emily that every now and then, just once and a while, she would wake up in a sweat completely out of herself and afraid that she was back there. Trapped in that replica of her childhood bedroom.

Trapped and alone. Scared and alone.

It wasn't until she would glance to her side, to the place where Paige was sleeping soundly or to where she could see her dorm roommate across the room, that she would finally remember where she was. Remember that she was safe.

If she was dreaming, if all of this was some kind of marvelous illusion, then Emily wanted to keep it going. She wanted to stay asleep forever if it kept her in this apartment, kept her in Paige's arms and away from anything and everything bad that had tried over and over again to break her.

As the night went on though, as the hours passed and Emily walked back and forth until her feet hurt, she finally succumbed to her own exhaustion and joined Paige in bed. She remembered lying down and curling her body around Paige's back until they were basically one conjoined human being, closing her eyes so slowly and falling into the most peaceful nights of sleep she had ever experienced.

The days seemed to pass by quickly after that first night. They spent their days figuring out exactly where everything should go and once that was all fine and done, things just fell into place for them. Before the summer had ended they had each picked up a job to help pay for the things that weren't included with Paige's scholarship. Emily got a job at a bar and grill as a waitress, which she enjoyed very much (especially the tips) while Paige had started working at a local bakery shop near the apartment. Initially, Paige had only taken it because it the first place that had offered her a spot out of the handful of places she had applied, more interested at first in working in a nearby gym or nutrition shop. But to the surprise of both teens, Paige not only enjoyed the job from the start, but she was a natural at it. She learned the art of decorating cupcakes, cakes, making pies and frying and frosting donuts and much more in just a few short months and quickly fell in love with baking. The whole thing was oddly relaxing for her. Just being in the kitchen and whipping up this or that, frosting and filling things here and there, all of it just seemed to wind her down a little bit after working out or swimming heavily during the day.

Emily had been rather amused the first few times she had come home to find the kitchen covered in powdered sugar or flour as Paige tried to conquer a new recipe she had found. Of course now it was pure excitement for her to see what Paige would be creating next. (Plus she enjoyed watching Paige strut around in her little chef's hat and apron) There were even a few times when Paige had worked the late shift by herself and she snuck Emily into the bakery with her to teach her a few things here and there. Emily couldn't deny that she was proud of how much Paige had learned and it was no lie that she could make a damn good dessert, but the bad thing about it was that Emily often found herself stuffing the entire plate into her mouth, which wasn't all that bad, but her sore muscles from her intense exercises the following day told a different story.

Before either of them knew it, school was beginning again. Their schedules weren't as crazy as freshman year, mostly because they didn't have to work so hard to see one another like they had the year before, but of course they still sometimes went a day or two where they hardly got to lay eyes on one another for more then five minutes. It was especially difficult for Emily at times. Paige had a lot more on her plate then she did with practice, meets and training as well as school, work and homework which at times was frustrating because Emily didn't want to nag or complain that she wasn't getting any attention, but at the same time that's how it felt at certain instances. It had been the root of several arguments over the first passing year that they lived together. Paige was focused on their relationship of course, but at the same time she was also trying to focus very much on her swimming career in hopes of maybe reaching the Olympic level, which clearly after time was putting a serious strain on their relationship.

There was one night in particular that Emily thought of now and then. One in which she regretted on one hand and was thankful for on another. Paige had been especially busy that whole week. She had midterms, as did Emily, plus two-a-day practices and she was working the late shift to boot. It had been well over a week since the two teens had been in the same room with one another for more than five minutes at a time, which considering they lived in the same place was difficult for either of them to understand, but with Emily leaving early in the morning for class and then going straight to work after that before her evening class and Paige getting home from work after Emily had already left and then going directly from practice, class and straight to her next practice before her next shift, it had happened.

When the first night that they would be able to spend together finally came Emily had been more than excited just knowing that she and Paige would finally get to have a night where they didn't need to be anywhere or do anything that would require them to move from the couch or their bed. She had come home early from her shift at work and made the only dish she had really mastered over the last several months, tortellini, but she knew that Paige loved it and it would be perfect for the night. Only it didn't go quite that way.

Paige ended up showing up two hours later then she was supposed to and to top it off Emily could tell that she had been drinking, which only served to piss her off that much more.

 _"Emily, I said I was sorry. I was just with a couple girls from the swim team. Mid terms are over and it was Gina's birthday so we just went back to her dorm and had a few beers to celebrate and I just lost track of time.."_

 _"Lost track of time? You're serious, Paige?!" Emily scoffed, watching her girlfriend sigh as she leaned against the fridge and rubbed her hands across her face. Paige did realize the excuse was lame in a sense, but at the same time it was true and she was home now anyways._

 _"You knew we had plans. If you wanted to go out instead all you had to do was say so instead of making me waste my time making dinner."_

 _"I know. I should have texted you and I was going to but I just forgot. I wasn't planning on staying that long. I was going to have one beer and it just turned into more." Paige frowned, hating that she had let Emily down but it had not been intentional by any means._

 _"Well it's nice that you at least have time for your friends." Emily spat out as she pushed her body off the counter and started to throw away the dinner that she made hours before._

 _"Jesus, Em! Come on." Paige frowned as she walked up behind her girlfriend and pulled the pot away from her that the pasta was sitting in before she tossed all of it._

 _"I'm sorry that I'm late but that doesn't mean that we still can't have a good night. You don't have to be so dramatic about it."_

 _"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I being dramatic?" Emily asked, sarcasm clear in her voice and Paige wished she could take that phrase back immediately._

 _"Wow, okay. Well I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry for being so dramatic, Paige. I guess I just shouldn't give a damn whether or not I see you, should I? I mean clearly you don't so I guess I shouldn't either."_

 _"That's such bullshit and you know it!" Paige argued, tossing the pot onto the counter as Emily crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her blankly. Both of them knew things were getting out of hand, they were both letting the fight go on too long but they were each frustrated. Each of them upset at how things had been going and both of them felt attacked. It was a deadly combination and getting out of easily wasn't much of an option._

 _"God, what else do you want me to say? I made a mistake but that doesn't mean that I don't want to see you. Of course I want to see you. It's just been a long couple weeks and I decided to have a few drinks with my friends to wind down, okay? But I'm here now so why can't you just let it go instead of picking a fight with me about it?"_

 _"I'm not the one picking a fight, Paige! I was the one here all damn day trying to make this night special for you because I wanted to actually spend time with you. You're the one who decided you had better things to do!"_

 _"You're just not going to stop are you?" Paige chuckled slightly as she let her head fall back against the cabinets. "You're just going to keep putting words in my mouth."_

 _"I'm just telling you why I'm upset, okay? Because I wanted to spend time with you because I've barely seen you at all the past couple weeks and if I'm not mistaken the entire reason I came here was to see you more, not less."_

 _"I know that. Don't you think I want that too?"_

 _"I don't know." Emily answered after a moments hesitation, her answer coming like a slap in the face to Paige._

 _"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" Paige questioned, her face showing every bit of confusion that she was feeling._

 _"It means I don't know, Paige. I mean the first night we have to finally spend together and you just blew me off!"_

 _"I did not blow you off!"_

 _"Well that's how it feels, okay?! It feels exactly like that and it's not fair! It's not fair that I'm the only one who is trying here!" Emily shouted, feeling frustrated and aggravated and so much more and she couldn't stop it._

 _"Well no one is making you stay!" Paige shouted back, the words coming out before she could stop and think and pull them back. "Alright, if you're that unhappy, if I'm making you feel that bad, then just go!"_

 _The look of shock and awe, of hurt and sadness that covered Emily's face was more than enough for Paige to realize she had gone too far. She didn't even mean what she had said, not even for a second, but it was too late to try and take them back now._

 _"Em…"_

 _Not even acknowledging Paige in the slightest, even when she reached out to her, Emily brushed right by her and walked off towards the stairs that led to their bedroom and went up without another word._

 _"Fuck…" Paige muttered under her breath and shook her head at the same time. "Fuck!"_

 _Slamming her fist onto the counter top, Paige allowed her body to sink back against the cabinets as she tried to figure out how she was going to fix this. Obviously she didn't mean what she had said but considering her tardiness earlier and now that she had said what she had, she understood that Emily wasn't going to be so easily convinced._

 _Pushing her body from the counter, Paige walked to the bedroom like a dog with it's tail between it's legs, willing and ready to beg and plead if that's what it took to fix what she had done. Staring up the stairs, she hesitated for a second before walking right up the steps, taking two at a time as she tried to think of how to make this whole argument go away._

 _Emily was sitting on her side of the bed, her legs pulled up her to chest tightly, staring at the sheets below her body. Walking slowly across the room Paige took a moment to give Emily a chance to tell her to go away or walk off on her own before taking a seat on the bed beside her girlfriend._

 _They sat in silence beside each other, Paige trying to find the right words to apologize while Emily seemed lost in her own thoughts._

 _"Do you want me to leave?"_

 _"What?" Paige asked after Emily's voice broke the silence. She was expecting Emily to scream or shout or call her an asshole or something, but not that._

 _"Maybe this was just all way too soon."_

 _"Wha-? No. NO." Paige argued immediately, shaking her head vigorously from left to right._

 _"Emily, no. I do not want you to leave. I didn't mean that."_

 _"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that it isn't true."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Paige's face showed her confusion perfectly, and Emily was scared to even voice the words that were on the tip of her tongue._

 _"That maybe we rushed this. That we weren't ready for all of this. It just feels like it's so much harder now then it was before. It was easier when I was in Malibu."_

 _"That's not true." Paige disagreed as she moved from her spot and knelt down in front of Emily so she could see her face. Emily didn't protest when Paige reached out and took ahold of her hand, watching closely as Paige smiled up at her with sorrow in her eyes._

 _"I know it hasn't exactly been easy, not like we thought it would be anyways, but it's just something we have to adjust to. I know I haven't had a lot of free time and I admit I guess since you're here now I haven't thought as much about it as I should and I'm sorry for that. I've taken the fact that you're right here now for granted and that's not okay."_

 _Emily knew that she couldn't have every second of Paige's attention, and she didn't expect it, but she did at least expect to see Paige in the flesh for more than a minute a day. That was in fact the whole reason that she made the decision to move in the first place._

 _"I'm sorry for being an asshole, for not being here like I should have and for saying what I said, but I didn't mean it. You know that I didn't. I was just frustrated and it came out but I didn't mean it."_

 _"I know that." Emily said, squeezing Paige's fingers as she gripped her girlfriends hand with both of hers, dropping her feet down to the floor._

 _"I really am sorry. That I wasn't here when I was supposed to be and that I haven't been around as much the past few weeks but you have to believe me that it's not on purpose. I just-I'm trying. I really am and it's just a lot more difficult than I thought with practice and work and us and just…I'm doing my best and-"_

 _"I know you are." Emily cut her off, sighing as she let her hands fall away from Paige's and instead folded them into her lap, shrugging her shoulders as she stared down at the floor._

 _"I know this isn't easy for you either, and I'm trying, like really trying, to not be one of those girlfriends who nags and begs for attention and gets upset when you go hang out with your friends…but I just…I miss you."_

 _"I miss you too. I do. More than you know and I'm sorry that this hasn't been easier. I wish it was. I thought it was going to be, but it hasn't turned out quite that way but we can fix it. I want to. I don't want to lose you."_

 _"I don't want that either. But I don't want you to not be able to go with your friends either. You know we should have our separate time too. I'm not asking for every second of your attention, but I do want to be with you too."_

 _"So do I. Can we just start over tonight?"_

 _"We can but what about tomorrow and the next day?" Emily questioned, knowing that even if they wished they could spend more time together it just wasn't that simple. They still had busy schedules and it wasn't going to change anytime soon._

 _"We'll work it out. Mid terms are over now and I only have a few weeks left of swimming before the season is over. We can get through this and we will, I promise. Just, just don't go. Please don't do that."_

 _"I'm not going anywhere." Emily assured her, knowing full well that she never intended to leave, unless Paige had truly wanted her, but she knew that wasn't the case._

 _"Neither am I. I'm sorry if you've felt like I have been but I promise I'm not. I screwed up tonight and I should have been here or at least let you know what was going on and I'm sorry I didn't. That won't happen again, I promise. You and me are the most important thing in the world to me and I would never hurt you on purpose."_

 _"I know that, and I feel the same way. That's why it sucked when you didn't show up. It just-it hurt."_

 _"I didn't mean for it too."_

 _"It's okay. I know you have a lot on your plate, we both do, but I know you have more going on than I do and I can't just expect you to drop everything for me."_

 _"I would, though. I will." Paige said with a smile that Emily returned. "Cause I love you."_

 _"I love you too."_

 _Paige's smile widened, reaching out for Emily's hands once again. "You still want to be my roommate then?"_

 _Emily rolled her eyes playfully, pulling Paige closer to her by her hands. "Yes."_

 _Letting Emily pull her in, Paige freed one of her hands from Emily's grasp and used it to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen into Emily's face, gently tugging her in close until their lips brushed. Once, twice, and a third time. Paige smiled against Emily's lips, feeling her girlfriends hands brushing across her back as she brought her in close for a hug._

 _"I'm sorry for being an asshole." Paige whispered into Emily's ear, earning a small laugh from her in response._

 _"You should be."_

 _This time it was Paige who was laughing and Emily told her she was only joking, but they both knew that Paige deserved the small jab._

 _"You want to eat now?" Emily asked as she ran her hands across Paige's back and along her sides._

 _"Yes, please."_

Although it was still difficult at times to see each other as much as they wanted, they both began making the extra efforts to do so. Whether it be playing hooky from work or class one day or simply getting off earlier or getting homework done sooner, they made strides to make sure they didn't end up like they had that night once again. And they didn't, at least not that severely. Of course they still had their tifs here and there. But instead they would argue about who forgot to put milk on the grocery list, or who's turn it was to do the laundry or take out the trash. Instead of letting themselves come between each other, they settled into their new life together with such ease that Emily still found it so remarkable, even a year later, that they had actually managed to pick up the broken pieces of their relationship and put them back together with even more passion, even more care and even more love then she ever thought was possible between two people. It wasn't perfect. No, not at all, but for them it was as perfect as it could be. It was as perfect as they wanted it to be.

It felt like home.

"Are you going in sometime today or what?"

Startled, Emily gasped and nearly jumped a foot in the air as the deep voice behind her broke her concentration away from the past images running through her mind.

"Shit, Tate! You scared the hell out of me." Emily sighed before releasing a small laugh at her upstairs neighbor, Tate, all while shoving her hand into his chest as he started to laugh on his own.

"Well damn, girl! You're holding up the line here." He said with his usual over-exaggerated tone.

"Some of us have very important things to do today." Tate huffed playfully all while tapping the imaginary watch on his wrist.

Emily snorted at the blonde's words. "Like what? Getting your nails done?"

"Ah, okay. We're in that kind of mood today are we? Paige holding out on you or is Aunty Gloria on her way again?"

"You are so gross!" Emily shoved his chest again before pulling open the gate in front of them and stepping inside the courtyard.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. You've got Eve to thank for that one, baby girl."

"And who do I thank for you?"

"As long as you're thankful, I don't care who you give credit to."

Tate then proceeded to wrap his arm around Emily's shoulder and kiss the top of her head as the two of them walked into the building together. Emily and Paige had met Tate nearly six months ago when he first moved into the building. The couple had been returning home from a night out together when Tate and his roommate, also sort of kind of boyfriend, Miles, had run (literally) up to the two of them in hopes of borrowing some hoop earrings. At first the two girls had been completely thrown off and weary of the two gentleman, but after Tate explained that he had a show to perform and had to have hoop earrings to complete his outfit, Emily had lent him a pair of hers.

It wasn't until the following day when Tate returned the earrings that Paige and Emily got the full scoop on the twenty three year old. Tate Ralph was a 6'0 blonde with (at the time) red and black streaks in his hair and the brightest blue eyes that Emily had ever seen in her life. It was like staring right into the ocean water. He had three piercings in his left ear, but only one in the right. He was skinny, but surprisingly muscular at the same time. He didn't carry himself like an openly gay male, but he also didn't hide the fact that he was openly gay. It was sort of an on and off type thing for him. He didn't hold back, but he didn't overly flaunt either.

Tate was a graduate of the University of California performing arts program and he, like Miles, was a part of the drag queen scene. Tate hoped to one day become a broadway dancer while Miles was still in the 'I don't know what I want to do with my life, so I'll just do this for now' state of mind. Miles was much more laid back of the two. He was shorter than Tate, probably by about five inches. His hair was black with no streaks of any kind and he had no piercings at all that the naked eye could see. He was far more muscular than Tate but far less open about his feelings when it came to PDA and such. If it wasn't for Tate and his slightly gossipy nature and inability to hold himself in check all the time, Emily and Paige might not have ever guessed Miles was gay. Well of course there was the drag queen thing, but hey, maybe straight guys do it to? You never know.

After spending a few hours with Tate, Emily and Paige had found themselves quite taken by the dancer. He had invited them to hangout with him and Miles as a thank you for the earrings and the four had gone to a local bar and grill and had hit it off right away. The rest was history.

"So, Miles and I were planning a little get together this weekend. A little booze and some boardgames. You and Paigey free?"

"Uh, I think so. I'll have to ask Paige though. I don't remember if she said she had to work or not."

"Well if not then I expect your asses to be knocking on my door at no later than 9:00pm."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Emily winked at him cheekily, earning herself a quick pat on the ass.

"Sassy indeed." Tate wagged his finger at her as the elevator dinged and the two stepped off.

"Only with you boo." Emily smiled widely and Tate snorted slightly as he pushed her shoulder and started walking towards the left down the hall, while Emily began walking to the right.

"Text me later, okay? Let me know if you guys are free. If not we can get together sometime next week! We still have that whole season of HTGAWM to binge!"

"I know! Paige cheated and got a few episodes ahead of us so now we really have to catch up."

"I'll bring the booze, you bring the snacks!"

"Deal." Emily gave him a thumbs up as she pulled her keys from her pocket. "See you later."

"Adios, boo."

Emily smiled at Tate's retreating figure before opening the door to the apartment, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. Toeing her shoes off one by one, she kicked them underneath the small bench beside the door, tossing her keys in the bowl that sat on top it, and headed down the short hall that led to the living room. Crossing the short distance over to the kitchen she went to the fridge and retrieved a much needed cold bottle of water. She downed half the bottle in the first gulp, breathing a deep sigh if relief as she felt her body finally starting to cool down from her run.

Standing with her back to the fridge Emily shut her eyes, the memories that had crossed her mind minutes before flashing behind her closed lids along with dozens of others. Memories of nights they spent apart in those first few months, nights they spent alone when they were together again and finally in their own space. Memories of the girls and their parents coming to visit them and the laughter that filled the apartment as they played games or watched movies and went through a handful of six packs and wine that Tate and older girls from the swim team had purchased for them.

Emily wasn't sure why exactly all these moments were coming to her now. What made them stick out today was unknown to her, but she didn't mind them. It felt good. To see where they were now after knowing where they had been, not just as a couple, but as individuals as well. They had changed. They had grown, but more and more Emily saw how much they had grown together instead of apart. Emily knew that she wasn't the same person she had been before, the one from high school or even at the start of college.

She had changed so much and she was grateful for that fact. Paige had taken quite a turn after high school as well. She was even more beautiful, strong and confident, more so then Emily had ever seen her before, and it was something she found to be incredibly sexy, but also fitting. Paige had always been shy with Emily, especially in the beginning, but they both knew that Paige had a cocky side to her as well and Emily loved seeing that part of her shine through more as they got older. Whether it be in the way she would let herself flaunt a little more after a shower, not hiding behind the towel, or in the way she carried herself in the pool or kitchen as she mixed and baked with sheer confidence in her skill.

Slowly opening her eyes Emily twisted the cap back onto her water and smiled to herself as she pushed her body off of the fridge, walking in the direction of the bedroom. As she reached the stairs that led up to the loft area, she slowed her steps, quietly peaking up the staircase, her smile widening as she saw Paige still fast asleep beneath the comforter. She had worked the late shift at the bakery the night before and hadn't returned home until after three in the morning, which a quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told Emily was just over six hours ago, so she wasn't surprised to see her girlfriend still asleep. Creeping slowly into the room, Emily tiptoed across the hardwood floor towards the dresser to retrieve a fresh set of clothes that she could change into after her shower.

"Have a good run?"

Emily was startled momentarily by Paige's voice rasping out behind her, sounding even more husky than usual due to her just wakening up.

"I thought you were sleeping." Emily smiled at Paige, watching as she pushed her body up slightly until the covers fell off her body, stretching her arms above her head until her joints popped.

"Yeah, well your not as stealth as you think." Paige teased, letting her arms fall back to the mattress while turning her body until she was resting on her side.

"I'm sorry."

Paige shook off the apology as she heard Emily wince, holding back a yawn as she motioned for Emily to come and join her on the bed.

"You should go back to sleep. You got in late." Emily told her, knowing Paige was tired just from looking at her but that didn't stop her from lying down next to her on the bed.

"It was after two, right?" Emily asked, trying to remember but she wasn't sure. She had heard Paige come home and felt her crawl into bed next to her but she had no idea what time it actually was.

"Almost three." Paige nodded, her voice extra gruff when she did. "I had to get six hundred cupcakes baked before I left."

"Holy shit."

Paige chuckled lightly, opening her eyes as she felt Emily settle beside her. "That's what I said when I saw the order sheet. It's for some fancy banquet thing."

"They must like cupcakes."

"And brownies. There was supposed to be like three hundred of those, I think, but that's all on Conrad." Paige explained as she turned onto her back again, stretching her arms above her head a second time and groaning as her joints popped again.

Holding back a yawn, Paige turned her head and smiled sleepily at her girlfriend before shuffling closer to her. "Good morning. I forgot to say that."

"Good morning." Emily smiled back at her, settling easily into Paige's embrace when she felt her girlfriend's arms go around her waist. "I probably stink."

"Thanks for the warning." Paige mumbled against Emily's lips before she pressed her own against them without the slightest care, Emily's lips turning up into a small smile as she did. Emily sighed softly against Paige's lips, her hands slipping around her back and one reached the back of her neck and slid up into her hair, which was now several inches shorter than it had been in a long time. It reminded Emily of when they had very first started dating and she was glad that Paige had decided to go through with it, not that Emily minded her longer hair, but she really did like the shorter look on Paige as well. She knew she could herself would most likely never be brave enough to cut off more than just a trim at a time.

Pecking Emily's lips as few more times, Paige smiled softly against her lips before pulling away and letting her head sink back into the pillow, her eyes nearly closing again when she felt Emily's hands running up and down her back in a soothing motion.

"How was your run?" Paige managed to ask all while keeping her eyes open.

"It was good. I got to eight miles under thirty minutes finally."

"Sweet!" Paige's eyes lit up, knowing that Emily had been working on that goal for awhile now.

"Yeah. Pretty impressed with myself." Emily joked while rubbing her knuckles against her shoulder, causing a small snort/laugh to come from her girlfriend.

"Might even be faster than you now."

"You're so cute." Paige deadpanned while wrapping Emily up tight in her arms, giggling as Emily playfully tried to fight her off.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Em. You just have to accept the fact that I'm just faster than you."

"In more ways than one." Emily quipped with a quick uplift of her eyebrows, her face threatening to split wide into a smile at the shocked look on Paige's face.

"Oooh!" Paige couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head as she pointed a finger at Emily.

"That was cheap."

Emily's facade broke as she laughed, burying her face into her pillow as she laughed along with Paige, both of them shaking slightly from their laughter.

"And it's only like partially true. I can't help it if when I'm a little drunk I cum way faster. Any other time it's a pretty even given the situation."

One of the things that Emily had figured out quickly into their relationship after college had began was if Paige had too much to drink not only was she more aggressive in terms of pleasing Emily, which was not minded at all on Emily's part, but she also had a tendency to reach her peak much quicker, which Emily didn't notice until after a handful of experiences. It didn't make their intimacy any less enjoyable, but it was just a random fact that Emily had discovered about her girlfriend and when she had first voiced the thought Paige had been in a bit of a denial. Emily wasn't upset about the fact, mainly because the amount of alcohol didn't take away from that fact that neither girls were one hit wonders, but also because she just found it to be a funny little fact about her girlfriend. Paige hadn't been quite as amused though.

"I know. It was the only comeback that came to mind though." Emily explained all while still laughing, wiping at her eyes as she felt tears rising up.

"Just wrong." Paige shook her head, but didn't protest as Emily leaned over and kissed her lips over and over again.

"I was only playing."

"I know that." Paige nodded, pulling Emily's mouth back to her own once more. "Don't worry you're still my favorite."

"And _I_ know that." Emily grinned and gave her girlfriend one more kiss before she slowly pushed herself up from the bed.

Paige watched quietly as Emily walked back to the dresser that she had been at when she first walked up into the room, rolling onto her back to get a better view as she watched her remove her jewelry and grab her towel from chair in the corner of the room.

"I'm gonna shower." Emily smiled over at Paige as she walked to the edge of the steps.

"Is that an invitation or just an FYI kind of thing?" Paige questioned, seeing a small smirk rise onto Emily's lips.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe if you want to get your lazy ass out of bed sometime today you'll find out."

"My lazy ass?!" Paige scoffed, but the smile on her face clearly showed she wasn't upset. "Wow, you're really not holding back this morning are ya?"

"I love you." Emily smiled, winking at her girlfriend as she took off down the steps.

"You know just for that I am going to keep my lazy ass right here in this bed!" Paige yelled out loud enough so she knew Emily would hear her.

"Suit yourself!' Emily called back as her feet hit the last step and she walked off towards the bathroom.

Tossing her towel and clothes onto the closed toilet seat, Emily turned her back to the sink and reached for the knobs on the shower, getting it just to the right temperature, and sighed as she thought of the warm water soothing her aching body.

Reaching for the hem of her shirt to remove it, she paused at the feeling of hands covering her own, a smile quickly taking over her face as she felt Paige's body press against her back.

"Took you long enough."

"Shut up." Paige chuckled, hearing Emily's laughter as well as she took over the task of removing her girlfriend's clothes.

"I had to make you sweat for a second now didn't I?"

"I guess I deserved it."

"Damn right." Paige smiled against Emily's shoulder as she placed a kiss there.

Emily sighed contently as she felt her girlfriend's hands running along her back and then around to her stomach, goosebumps rising on her skin with every swipe of Paige's fingers.

"Wash your back?"

"Yes, please." Emily's voice came out more breathlessly then she had intended, already imagining the smug look on her girlfriend's face as she heard the effect that her hands were having on Emily's body.

Grasping onto the last bit of concentration that she had left, Emily turned around, effectively moving Paige's hand away from her body as she did, and began to undress Paige as well.

"What's your rush?" Paige grinned, her smile only widening when Emily had no come back prepared.

"Just get naked already."

Paige's laugh rang throughout the small bathroom as Emily managed to remove her shirt from her body.

"Well how could I possibly say no to that?"

"You can't." Emily said with a smug grin of her own, pulling Paige into a deep kiss before she had the chance to respond.

* * *

Reaching for the hair tie that was sitting on the dresser, Emily picked it up with one hand, her other currently holding her hair into a tight ponytail, and quickly wrapped her around her still damp hair.

Holding back a yawn, she slicked the top of her hair back and looked back towards the bed. Seeing her phone laying in the middle of the crumpled sheets, she reached over and grabbed it and tucked it into her sweatshirt pocket before walking towards the steps that lead down into the living room. Reaching the last step, she looked around for her girlfriend but didn't spot her anywhere.

Turning her head towards the kitchen, she saw Paige sitting at the kitchen counter with her back towards her, reading a magazine while eating a very large bowl of cereal. She was dressed in black sweats and a grey sleeveless t-shirt with her bare feet hanging on the feet ledge of the stool she was sitting in. Her hair, still damp like Emily's, was combed back and out of her face.

"Hungry?" Emily smiled as she walked up behind Paige, chuckling at her bowl of choice.

"You could say that." Paige replied, a large grin of her own covering her face, one that Emily recognized all too well. "All that hard work, you know?"

"Mmm."

Emily walked to the fridge and grabbed out the carton of juice, feeling Paige's stare on her the entire time as she stepped over a few paces and opened the top cabinet to get a glass. As she poured her juice, she could heard Paige chewing her cereal and could still feel the stare also.

As she placed the juice back into the fridge, she sighed and turned around, coming face to face with the smirk she knew was going to be there. The same smile that had been glued to her girlfriend's lips for nearly a half an hour now and Emily knew what she was going to have to do.

"Are you done yet?"

"Done?" Paige questioned, her smirk still on her lips even as she reached for her own glass of juice and took a sip.

"Yes, done. You know with that little shit eating grin you've got going on over there?" Emily pressed, although her own smile was giving away the fact that she was more amused than anything else.

Paige simply continued to smile. "Do I have one of those? Hm…I wonder why that would be."

Lifting her spoon from her bowl, Paige shoveled another bite of her chocolate puffs into her mouth, her smile still on full display on her lips as she chewed the mouthful.

"Oh my god." Emily grumbled, unable to stop the laugh that escaped her lips. "You're really serious aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean…"

Moving towards the counter, Emily reached across the island and squeezed Paige's cheeks with her one hand in effort to get the smirk to disappear even though the one on her own face wasn't going away either.

"Stop with the damn smirk. You win okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

Paige just continued to smile, unable to help herself and Emily grumbled again as she let Paige's face go and threw her hands up in the air in defeat.

"I said you win! Okay, you win. I made a dirty jab earlier and you proved your point thoroughly."

Setting her spoon down in her now near empty bowl, Paige lifted her juice glass to her lips once again and took a long sip.

"Twice."

Emily's jaw clenched just for a moment, her eyes fighting to roll back into her head but she resisted the urge. She really did only have herself to blame. She had awoken the competitive beast in her girlfriend in the worst way and now she was paying for it. She knew Paige was only teasing her, but being as competitive as she herself was, it was just as hard for her to admit the defeat as it was for Paige.

"Yes. Yes, Paige you made me come twice before I even got a hand on you, okay?"

"It would have been three but you kind of cheated when you went for the ear."

"Oh…" Now it was Emily's turn to smirk as she walked the short distance towards her girlfriend, leaning in to her body until she was practically sitting on her lap. Her arms slipped around Paige's neck as she leaned in, her lips grazing the shell of Paige's ear as she spoke quietly to her.

"You mean this ear?"

Emily smiled in satisfaction as she heard the low rumble come from Paige's throat as her tongue just barely swept across the skin. Early on in their relationship Emily had become keenly aware that if she applied just the right amount of attention to her right ear, and only the right one, that it would be enough to have her girlfriend weak in the knees. It was more times than not Emily's go to move. It was rare that it didn't work in her favor.

"Ah, okay. I got it. No more teasing." Paige's grip on Emily's hips got a little tighter as Emily drug her teeth across the lobe of her ear.

"No more gloating, I promise." Paige said as she felt a shiver go through her body as Emily worked her weak spot.

"No?"

"No. No more, scout's honor."

Scooting her chair back a bit, Paige pulled Emily closer to her, her smile coming back onto her lips as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist and pulled in close to where Emily was nearly sitting on her lap.

"Am I still you're favorite?"

"Maybe." Emily smiled a small smirk of her own as she brushed a stray hair out of Paige's face before sinking further into her arms.

"Mm. Well I guess I'm going to have to fix that then aren't I?"

Before she could reply, Emily's lips were covered by Paige's, effectively stopping her from responding verbally, but the moan that rumbled out from the back of her throat was answer enough for Paige.

When Emily rolled over in bed she felt the warmth of Paige's body beside her. She rolls over, as she struggles to open her eyes against the sunlight pouring in through the windows, and molds her body further into Paige's. She sees her girlfriend still asleep, but her movement on the bed has stirred Paige as well, her body moving slightly to adjust to Emily's position change.

Emily wraps her arm around Paige's waist and can't help but lay a few kisses across her neck, letting her body settle comfortably against her girlfriends and relishing in the feeling of their bare skin pressing together. She doesn't know what time it is or how long they've been in bed exactly but she has no intention of moving at all. They could stay in bed all day long for all Emily cared. It was one of the few days off they each had together so why not? Summer break was only for another month and then their schedules would be back to their normal hectic state and Emily was more than happy to spend their free time naked in bed.

However, Emily's stomach clearly had other plans as it let out a rather large grumble, reminding Emily that she hadn't eaten any actual food since the night before.

She feels the vibration of Paige's laugh before she actually hears it. "Wow. That was impressive."

Raising her eyes up, Emily nips the bottom of Paige's chin as she sees her eyes slowly opening up. "It's not my fault. You got to eat remember?"

"I do, but I think I'm running on empty again myself." Paige admitted as she looked down at Emily with a smile.

"I can cook us something."

"I don't think we have much to cook with." Paige says with a smile and Emily opens her eyes for a moment, remembering that it had been at least a week since they'd done any food shopping.

"Oh, right."

"It's alright though. I get my paycheck early this week, remember? Plus I had three days with overtime."

Paige's scholarship paid for a portion of the teens rent but as far as food, utilities and extras went the girls relied on their paychecks for that. Of course their parents chipped in every now and then as well but the girls only used that route in desperate times. They preferred to try and make ends meet on their own and in the year that they had been living together they hadn't needed too much extra help.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not worried about that. I just don't feel like going shopping today."

"So…what do you feel like then?" Paige asked as she rubbed at her eyes, sliding down on the bed slightly so she and Emily were eye level.

"Mmmm…something…."Emily pondered, closing her eyes slowly as she felt Paige's hands rubbing her back.

"Something greasy. And cheesy and seriously fattening,"

"Hmmm…Theo's?"

"Yes!" Emily snapped her fingers as her eyes went wide for a moment. "Yes, that sounds so good right now."

Theo's was a little, very little in fact, hole in the wall ice cream and burger shack that the two had discovered the summer before and had quickly become one of their favorite places to dine. Not only because it was super cheap but the food was amazing. You wouldn't find a softer hamburger or cheesier nachos anywhere else.

"Theo's it is then." Paige nods, her own stomach beginning to feel emptier by the second as she thought about the food.

As hungry as the teens were it took them another half an hour to actually get themselves to crawl out of bed and get ready. Emily was surprised to see that it was actually much later in the day the she had realized, leaning towards the five o'clock hour by the time they actually left the apartment and grabbed their bikes for the ride to Theo's.

An hour later and with their bellies full of nachos, hamburgers and a shared order of chill cheese fries, the girls walked out of the little shack and started to walk along the boardwalk near the beach in attempt to let their stomachs settle a bit.

"Ugh. I'm going to have train so hard to undo all this food." Paige sighed as she sipped her hot fudge shake. She held Emily's hand with her free one, swinging their fists between their bodies slightly as they watched the sun start to dim in the sky.

"Mm. I think you'll be okay." Emily said with a short laugh as she rubbed her free hand along Paige's stomach, feeling the ripples from her abdomen beneath the thin material of her t-shirt.

"But if you're that worried I'm sure I can think of a few ideas to help you work it all off."

"Oh, oh. Could you now?" Paige smiled, tugging her girlfriend in closer to her own body as she offered Emily a sip from her cup.

"Maybe." Emily shrugged as she wrapped her lips around the straw. Paige felt a warmth start to rise in her belly as she watched Emily's lips sip at her shake.

"If you can keep up that is."

"You really want to play that game again?" Paige taunted, causing Emily to laugh as she shoved gently at Paige's shoulder before wrapping both of her arms around Paige's left one and tugged her to keep on walking.

"Come on."

Paige followed along with Emily's steps, the two teens just walking along the boardwalk in a comfortable silence. They're weren't too many people out surprisingly, especially since it was summer break and a Friday night, but neither of them minded. They found an empty bench in the middle of the boardwalk facing out to the water and decided to take a seat.

Paige laid her left arm over Emily's shoulders while she held onto her shake with her right hand, her gaze focused out onto the rolling waves. She could hear the noises from the amusement rides on the other side of the boardwalk. The lights from the ferris wheel and other rides starting to show more and more as the sun began to fall.

Paige felt Emily's head lay onto her shoulder, her own head turning as she pressed her lips against Emily's forehead as she felt the girls body sink further into her own. Emily hand her hand on the inside of Paige's jacket, her fingers running along her stomach absentmindedly while Paige's hand slowly massaged her shoulder.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah." Paige answered almost immediately, her focus turning to Emily as she waited for her to ask whatever it was she was wanting to.

Emily hesitated, unsure if she really wanted to open up this door. But the thoughts had been whirling in her mind all day long and she was itching to get them out of her head.

Instead of asking the question she had been thinking of she went a different direction and simply said, "I was thinking about some stuff earlier."

Paige turned to Emily when she heard her speak out, her eyes focused on the girls face as she waited for her to go on. "About?"

"…Lots of stuff. Weird stuff."

Paige's interest was peaked even more, her face turning more serious as she shifted in her spot, Emily doing the same as she sat up, her hand staying wrapped between Paige's.

"Weird?"

"I guess not weird stuff in general but just how…how weird things are now."

"Okay. I'm a little lost." Paige admitted, her thoughts starting to whirl a little in a paranoid direction as she waited for Emily to go on.

"I don't know…just, things are so normal, you know?" She laughed slightly, trying to explain herself but knew that she was doing a poor job. She didn't even know why she was bringing it all up. None of it mattered anymore. It was all in the past and she wanted it to stay there forever. But something was nagging at her, something in the back of her mind was itching to bring it up since she had seen Paige that morning. They hadn't talked much about Rosewood since they got back together other than the few times when it was unavoidable; like when Emily would go visit her parents or early on after they got back together and Emily would have night terrors. But slowly Rosewood and it's darkness has vanished from their minds, at least that's how it seemed anyways.

"Is that a bad thing?" Paige questioned, trying to keep up pace with what Emily was saying.

"No, it's not. It's everything I wanted but it's weird because…well cause I just haven't felt normal in so long. I didn't think I would ever get the chance to remember the feeling."

Suddenly the words that Emily was saying started to make more sense. "Right. I get it."

"When I got home this morning it all just hit me, I guess. I have a home, a real home, with you and I'm here and I don't even know how it all actually happened. I wanted it to happen, I wanted to be here with you but I never actually thought I would get to be."

"It definitely wasn't easy." Paige noted and Emily nodded, turning her eyes to look at Paige as she did.

"Sometimes I feel crazy, you know? I think about all the stuff that happened and the things that I did and I just…I don't know how I could be here after all of that. Two years ago I couldn't walk down the street without feeling like everybody was watching me or without feeling like something bad was going to happen every second of the day and now…" Emily laughed slightly as she looked out at the water again and held her hands up slightly.

"Now I'm in California sitting in front of the beach with you and it just feels so bizarre, you know? Like none of those things that I know happened actually happened. And I never thought I would be able to forget any of it, that I would ever actually be able to move on from it but more and more I can't even remember it all. So much of it is a complete blur."

"A lot of stuff happened, Em. It's not exactly a bad thing to have forgotten some of it."

"I know." Emily nodded. "And now I get to wake up with you everyday and I go to class and work and hang out with my friends, our friends, and we get to have real dates and it's all just so…"

"Normal?" Paige suggested and smiled when Emily laughed again.

"Yeah, basically."

"That is what you want though, right?"

"Of course. I guess I just-I know I'm not making much sense here, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm just really happy that I'm here."

"So am I." Paige smiled, reaching for Emily's hand again. "When I left Rosewood I was sure that I had ruined things between us for good. But you, somehow, you gave me another chance. You've given me lots of second chances and I know it hasn't been easy at all and we've definitely had our share of issues but it's always been worth it."

Emily smiled, squeezing Paige's hand between her own as she watched Paige's head fall slightly.

"Even with all the bad stuff that's happened and the times we were apart it's never not been worth it to be with you. And like you said everything is so normal now it's even more worth it and I wouldn't change any of it. Not even the bad stuff because we still got here you know? We're sitting here together even after all of it and I think that has to mean something."

"I think so too." Emily smiled, her eyes meeting Paige's as she squeezed her hand between her own.

Paige smiled back at Emily, her eyes falling to their joined hands as she took a moment to think it all over. She tried her hardest more times than not to put Rosewood in the back of her mind, to forget the things that happened to Emily and to herself. Paige didn't have many good memories from Rosewood. In fact the majority, if not all, of her good memories included Emily and without her she would have no reason to ever look back on or think about Rosewood again. The truth was she hated Rosewood and everything about it. There was so much pain, so much hurt and anger that surrounded the life she had there, except the one she had managed to create with Emily in her last year there. Finding Emily in the mess of it all was the only thing that made it all worth it. All the pain, the suffering and self hate she was put through by Alison and by herself and the never ending pressure put on her shoulders by her father was enough to push Paige over the edge and for a moment, one long single moment, everything in Paige's life felt meaningless and the will to go on left her completely.

But then she found something that made it not only worth it, but possible. Emily was the light at the end of the tunnel that felt forever away in her life. For the first time she felt like she belonged. She wasn't alone anymore. There was someone in her life all of the sudden that loved her, that wanted a life with her and instead of just being a thought in her imagination or an animation on her computer, they were actually living it now.

"You're happy? Really?"

"What?" Emily quirked an eyebrow at Paige as she questioned her. "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Just making sure." Paige answered, a shy smile on her lips as she did. "You've been through so much, Em. More than anybody should ever have to deal with and I honestly don't know you got through it all and more than anything else I just want you to be happy. You deserve it so much, more than anybody else I know, and-"

"And that's why I'm here."

Paige looked up as Emily cut her off, her eyes searching Emily's and finding all the answers that she needed.

"That's why I wanted to be here with you in the first place." Emily squeezed Paige's and again, leaning in closer to her as she reached her free hand up and place it onto Paige's cheek.

"Cause being with you is the only thing that has actually made me happy in a really long time."

Despite how long they had been together, Emily knew that Paige still didn't quite believe that she was really what Emily had wanted, that she was worthy of Emily's love but in reality Emily knew that if either one of them had ever been unworthy it was her. The amount of times she had lied to and hurt Paige in the past, the number of things she had done wrong were far greater than she wished and she had made it her own silent mission to rid Paige's mind of that fear that she wasn't enough. Because she did love Paige. More than she had ever realized until they had been forced apart and she didn't ever want to experience that feeling again.

"I know the feeling." Paige released a shaky breath, a smile taking over her lips. "So…uh what exactly was your question?"

For a second Emily was confused, forgetting that she had even prompted a question at Paige.

"Oh, right. It doesn't matter. You already answered it."

Before Paige could respond Emily moved forward in her seat and pulled Paige to her, pressing their lips together softly and firmly all at the same time. Emily felt Paige's hand on her back holding her in close, her other hand running along her cheek and down to her neck.

When they parted Emily slowly opened her eyes, the sight of Paige's wide smile making her heart begin to beat faster in her chest.

"I love you."

Somehow Paige's smile grew even larger, her whole face glowing as she pulled Emily's lips back to her own again and again.

"I love you, too."

It was Emily's smile that grew this time, her hands holding tighter to Paige as she leaned fully into her embrace and buried her nose into her neck. They sat there for a few minutes quietly, just holding onto one another, each with different thoughts running through their minds. Both thinking at different times that they were just happy to have each other. Grateful that they had held on long enough to make it through the rough patches they were thrown into and were now able to live the life they had been hoping to have.

The sun had just all but disappeared from the sky when they got up from the bench and made the short walk to the rack where they had locked the bikes up.

"So how do you feel about a movie marathon tonight?" Emily asked as she leaned against the wall near the rack watching as Paige used the key to unlock the chain. Neither girls had to work early the next day and Emily was feeling extra wired from the food and she was sure Paige would be a little wound up herself.

"Sure. What do you feel like?"

"How about we finish up Stranger Things?"

"Eh. I don't know if my brain is in working order for that tonight. Why don't we start something new?"

"We have like ten shows we've already started and haven't finished yet, Paige." Emily noted as she swung one leg over her bike and watched Paige do the same. The two of them had created something of a habit of not finishing tv shows or movies before moving onto the next.

"Well yeah but it's fun starting new ones. Plus I heard really good things about this new show they did about Lemony Snicket. We can always go back and watch the other ones."

"Except we never do. Or you just jump ahead and watch by yourself." Emily argued with a smile and Paige held her finger up slightly.

"Hey! I was home sick. I don't even remember half of it." Paige shrugged as she dropped her hands onto her handlebars, a grin coming over her lips as she patted the leather covered bars.

"Winner's choice?"

"Really?" Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes as a smile broke out onto her face.

"Got a better idea?"

Biting her lip, Emily thought for a moment before relenting and rolling her bike closer towards Paige. She wasn't exactly sure how this whole thing had started, or who started it for that matter, but it had become something of a regular thing they did now. When they couldn't readily agree on one thing they would race for it.

"Fine. I win and we finish one of our old shows. You win and we can watch something new."

"Count of three?"

Emily nodded, fighting the smirk that was daring to rise on her lips again as Paige started counting them down, her heart racing in her chest as the two of them sped off down the boardwalk. The whole way back to the house the two of them goaded each other, laughing and trying to be careful not to run over any innocent bystanders as they fought to beat one another to the front gate of their apartment.

Emily ended up losing the race just by a landslide, but she didn't care. As the two of them walked up the stairs to their apartment hand in hand, changed into sweats and t-shirts and stood in the kitchen trading kisses with the sound of popcorn popping in the background all before ending up sprawled out on the couch side by side, Emily felt everything but loss.

She had Paige. She had a life that was entirely hers, entirely theirs, and nothing felt more victorious than that.


End file.
